Findings from mice study favour belief that cannabis ‘entourage effect’ ups pain relief - The GrowthOp

Kamis, 15 Juli 2021

Findings from mice study favour belief that cannabis ‘entourage effect’ ups pain relief - The GrowthOp

Investigators regard terpenes “as a promising new target for pain therapies that would require lower doses and produce fewer side effects."

Author of the article:

Angela Stelmakowich

John Streicher, PhD, a member of the Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center, said the findings answered some basic science questions that allowed him to advance the research moving forward. “Now, we're getting into the therapeutic questions — what’s a good drug to give to a person to help them control their pain?” /

A new U.S. study lends credence to the belief that using the whole cannabis plant, rather than individual parts, is a more effective approach to pain relief and that terpenes offer significant promise when it comes to future pain therapies.

Researchers determined that using cannabis sativa terpenes on their own “mimic the effects of cannabinoids, including a reduction in pain sensation,” notes a statement from the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

But when terpenes were combined with cannabinoids, “the pain-relieving effects were amplified without an increase in negative side effects,” investigators report.

In a paper first published online in Scientific Reports this April, researchers investigated four terpenes — alpha-humulene, geraniol, linalool and beta-pinene — each on their own and in combination with the cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212, which “stimulates the body’s natural cannabinoid receptors.”

There was a greater reduction in pain sensation together than either the terpene or WIN55,212-2 alone.

Researchers write in the study that all four terpenes “produced cannabinoid tetrad behaviours in mice, suggesting cannabimimetic activity.”

Specifically, the behavioural studies in mouse models showed all four terpenes on their own lowered pain sensitivity, as well as at least three of the four classic cannabinoid side effects: reduced pain sensation, lowered body temperature, reduced movement and catalepsy, or a freezing behaviour related to the psychoactive effects of cannabinoids.

In laboratory experiments, all four terpenes were found to activate the body’s CB1R cannabinoid receptors, just like THC, the university reports.

Cannabis has no monopoly on terpenes; these aromatic compounds are found in many different plants. But cannabis contains high concentrations of them.

FILE: A woman bends down to smell a marijuana plant at the Cannabis Crown 2010 expo April 18, 2010 in Aspen, Colo. / Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images

As for the entourage effect, the idea is that combining different weed compounds produces a stronger effect than what would result individually.

“We’re interested in the concept of the entourage effect, with the idea being that maybe we can boost the modest pain-relieving efficacy of THC and not boost the psychoactive side effects, so you could have a better therapeutic,” explains John Streicher, Ph.D., the study’s lead researcher and an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Arizona.

Although the findings were not unexpected, investigators regard terpenes “as a promising new target for pain therapies that would require lower doses and produce fewer side effects,” the university reports.

Dr. Streicher’s research is continuing, with his long-term goal being to develop a dose-reduction strategy that uses terpenes “in combination with cannabinoids or opioids to achieve the same levels of pain relief with lower doses of drugs and fewer side effects.”

The role, if any, of the entourage effect has been the subject of previous studies, including its influence on pain and mood and anxiety disorders.

But firm conclusions on the entourage effect have still not been reached. An Australian study published last year concludes that terpenes most commonly found in the cannabis plant did not change the effect that THC produces at CB1 or CB2 receptors.

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2021-07-15 14:09:06Z
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Kamis, 15 Juli 2021